Improvement in street-railroads



2 Sheets-Sheet 1. A. E. BEACH.

Street Railroad.

Patented Mar.'22, 1864. Y

Invert/ZUR I Afenw/ LI- Lu 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.l A. E. BEACH.

Street Railroad.

No. 42,039. Patented Mar. 22, 1864,

. Uivfirenl STATES annif' BEACH, 10E s'TnAfrFon'n, "GONNEorion'fr;I

PATENrOrrlcn.

- IMPROVEMENT IN s'TREE-vl.'-RAII noAos.

` Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.: 42,039. dated March22, 1864. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, A. ELY BEACH, of Stratford,` Fairfield county andState of Gonnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin StreetRail'roads'; and I de hereby declare that the following isafull and correct description of my saidjmprovements,

which will enable any yperson skilled in the art to make and use thesame. p

Reference is to be made to the accompanyin gdrawings, which form a partof this'specication, and on which- Figure lis a side elevation of myimprovement, in. part sectional. Fig. 2 is a plan of the attachmentsused upon the bottom part vand running-gearof the car. Fig. 3 is an endelevation. Figli is aplan o f the propelling'l cable and itsdriving-drums. Fig. 5 is 'al sectional elevation of one of the rails.Figsr,

j 7, and 8 are views of dii'erent methods o f confstructing the cable.

Similarw letters of The propulsion of railroad- 'ars of stationary steamengines and moving cables is a well-known device, and is extensively.practiced in this country, especially inthe coalregionss Some attemptshave been made vto introduce this method in citieswith av view todispense with the use of horsesin crowded thoroughfares', and also toreducethe cost of moving the cars; but so far as I am aware no practicalmethod for accomplishing these desirable results has as yet beendevised.

A patent has been granted for a tube conl taining the propelling-cable,and placed mld.v way in the street between each pair of rails;

Another patent'has been granted in which the propellin g-cable is placedupon p oles above. the car, like a telegraph-wire, with a clutchingdevice upon tho-top of the car.

- Although my invention relates io the propulsion of the cars by meansof amoving cable, I disclaim the invention of any of the referenceindica-teLcorre-v.l lspending parts in all the figures. v

by 'means that ity (the said arm) may be conveniently made to enter theaforesaid receptacle for the cable and grasp the cable, thus givingmotion Ato the car, and so that 'the said arm may be convenientlywithdrawn from the said receptacle and cable to permit the stoppage ofthe car; third, in having the device by which'the car `is Istopped orstarted so combined with the anlesor wheels ofthe car that it willalways maintain' the same plane "of ,action with the said wheels oraxles', so that the car-body may sway laterally or rise and fall uponits springs `without interferingwith or disturbing the acl tion of theaforesaid' device forstarting or stopping; fourth, 'inthe employmentlfor .the propulsion of streetlcars of a cable composed of a series ofVjointed bars, made A either with l or without'springs between the bars,or in the bars themselves, and Iwith or without frictionrollers betweenthe'bars; fifth, in the combinationiof the-device used to connect anddis! connect thejcar and'cablewith the brake-gear .in.snchamannerS-thattheact of turning or operatingthe brake rod-or lever bythedriver ofl thecarer train, will also actuate 'the arm.;

orv device bywhichfthe car and cable are'con- 'nected`,'so that when orbefore `the brakes be- -gintopressupon the car-whe`els the car will beseparated from the cable, and when the brakes arefjreleased vfrom lthe'wheels the car willfbecome connected with the cable.

In carrying lout'my improvement the rails, areto'be laid upon'sleepersand depressed in :g they ground to an even level with the pavement;

v in*the*mannercommon'to all the best street- "railroads'.

The rails are intended to-be of about the same width upon their face ortread as the ordinary rails.; but instead ofv having the groove shallow,as at present constructed, .I

propose to deepen the groove somewhat, and enlarge the bottom of thegroove, so as to form a cavity or receptacle for the propelling cable. Ashows the rail, and a the receptacle therein for the cable.

The rail may be rolled in one piece, like the ordinary rails, or' it may-be composed of more than one piece, as shown in figure, ortwo rails maybe set together so as to form a suit able receptacle for the cable.v

The cable B, l compose of steel bars, having a small body and anenlarged head, the extremity of one bar being jointed by a pivot to thehead of its adjoining bar, and inthis man- V nerI construct an endlesspropelling-cable.

engineer inv chargeV with a view tothe repair -Llhc enlargedheads .serveas. bearers to support the cable as it passes' through the rail, saidheads receiving' the friction. YOwing `to the wearing tendency of thisfriction, vit would not answer to employ a wire rope as thepro peilingmedium. t

At each end of the route, or at such intervals asmay -be deemedrequisite,`1 have a revolving drum, C, with angular surfaces, to receiveand propelthe cable. The drums are to be driven by steam or otherconvenient motor.' 'The drums C are to be soarranged and located thatthey can, together with the cable as it passes them, ybe examined by thewhile they are working.. 4

Instead f having'the links madestraight and'plaimthey may be composed oftwisted bars, thinner in one direction than the other,

of-auy defect or4 damage Awhich may occur as indicated at D Dr. Thisplan of construe-j tion 4would give to them 'theetfect of torsionspringsand prevent' rupture when any great weight 'wassuddenly thrown upon thecable; for, for the same purpose, the heads of the liuksmaybe soconstructed ,as -toreceive springs of rubber b b, against whichthe .endso f-the links may indrelief from' any sudden strain,l as shown at E andF.'

In order to relieve tle cable from friction, 'the links may be providedwith friction-rollers,

`as-sliown .at G,a slight groove or depression being inthat case made inthe bottom of the cable `receptacle to, `receive the wheel and nideth'ecable. This grooveis not, however,

indispensable Another method of diminish- .ing the friction is to have'the heads of vthe .links provided with friction-balls, as shown in Fig.8, which balls project from the-surface. of.

the heads or links.

Atsuitable distances along .the line of the track there areto beopenings or separations in the rails to allow ihedischarge of the mud,

dirt, or` other obstructionsthat may enter the cable-receptacle. Theseopenings will connect with thestreet-sewer' or with any suitable`reservoir madein the ground to receive the accumulations from therails.

In order to a'ord lubrication to the cable= I arrange oil-drips atsuitable intervals along the route, said drips being so made as to passa suitable quantity` of o il upon the cable. Saiddrips are depressed inthe ground. Portions of 'the vcable may be lubricated and cleansedby--causing the cable audits receptacle'to pass through pools of 'waterarranged at convenient points.

The devicewh'ich connects and disconnects the car and cable is composedof an arm, H,

y which projects fromunderneath the car, and

hasits lower end made of such form as to enter .the 'groove inthe railand come in contact with the moving cable.

i The upper endfof the arm H swings upon a horizontal bar, I, which ishung between two fixed arms, J J, which are attached to a rock shaft,LK.` The latter extends between the axle-boxes of the car, and has itsbearings in the frames which support the axle-boxes, t

When the rock-shaft K is moved. or turned -in one direction,the arm H isdepressed, and A presses upon the cable, and .thecar in imepliatelybegins to move; 'but the starting of the car is done in a gentle oryielding manner in consequence of the actionof the springs L L,

'which are arranged one upon each side of the v'arm H -upon the bar I,upon which bar the army `)EL both swings and slides. springs L L servelto resist the sliding of the arm H in which ever direction itmoves,'and thus relieves the car from the sudden shock or start whichitwould rcceivewere said springs not interposed. The said 'springs alsoserve f t to relieve thecable from `the sudden strain which theconnection with it' ofthe carwould otherwise produce. If, however, thecable is provided with springs in its links or bars, as

before: described, the springs L L would become less necessary. Therock-shaft K is connected with the brakegear and operated from thecar-platforms by means of an arm,-.M, which rises from the shaft K andbears against the Acurved end of a horizontal pivoted` or swinging'bar,N, whichis pivoted to the bottomv of the car.

' The brake-shoesO- and their connectingbars P are of the usualconstruction. The brake-bars P are connected by rods or chains Q withthe swinging bar'N, and this bar N is connected, by means of rods orchains RR, with the usualflever or ratchet-rod or brakeshaft s s'uponthe-platforms of the car.

By so turningthe brake shaft orrod 'S as to wind upthe chain R the barNwill be moved laterally and the curved head of the barN willstrikefagainst the upper end of the arm M and 'cause it to turn therock-shaft K, and thereby lift the bottom of the arm H out o f contactwith the cable, while the same lateral motion of the bar -K will pullthe brake-bar P so as to'pressthe brake-shoes 0 against the car-wheels,and thus check the motionof the car and'Y bring it to a stop. When thebrakerod S is uuwound, 'thearm H descends into contact with the cableandthe car starts.

' The respective'lengths of the rods or chains Q R are to be so adjustedthat the arm H will be disconnected .from the cable before the brakesbegin to press upon the wheels. will enable the driver of the car tobring thev carto a sudden halt if necessary, by a quick working of hisbrake-shaft S, with his full force, or be may allow the car to diminishits speed slowly by turning the shaft S to so slight an extent that itwill disconnect the arm H from the cable without causing 'the brakes topress upon the wheels. Thus the car will run by its own momentum forsome distance, or the driver may apply a gentle pressure of thebrakesupon the wheels at pleasure.`

The said This It will thus be seen that the stopping and starting of thecar can be placed under the complete control ofthe .cardriven The arm Hisso arranged or combined with the car-wheels and their ax'les as tooperate on the same plane with them. If the arm H, or whatevercableconnectin g device were used, were to operate from the plane of thecar-bottom, it is obvious that the surging of the car upon its springs,or the uneven 1oad ing of the car at its ends, would render it verydiriicult to place or keep the arm H in the groove ot' the rail or incontact with the cable.

The form of the arm H, ordevice which con-nects the car and cable, isimmaterial.- As

shown here, it is forked at its lower end and ts between the linksjotthe cable. The lower end of the arm may be made to resemble -a' claw, ifpreferable.

The intended location ofthe connecting de vice H is near the wheels ofthe.car, so that in passingaround the corners of streets, or on othershort curves, the arms Il will still remain in contact with the cable.rllhe rise and fall of the connecting device H should be lo- .cated orarranged onor near to aline drawn perpendicularly through the car'wheeland axle; but for present convenience I have shown the device H arrangedmidway between the caraxles.

The rails which-pass around sharp curves are intended to be interiorlyenlarged, so as to receive stationary friction-wheels l within them, forthe cable to press against, and thus reduce the friction. Y

On double-track roads I propose to vhave two cables, so that when onecableis moving the other may be over-hauled and repaired.

Long trains of cars may be movedin and out of cities by myimprovement'by having a connecting device upon one ot' ythe -carstoconnect -with the cable, or by having a special car thus provided towhich the whole train may be attached.

Upon the ordinary city passen ger-cars there maybe. one of the cabledevices H arranged Vupon each side of the car to connect with either ofthe cables, it being intended to have a cable arranged in each rail.

Those portions of the rails which pass over the summits ofelevations'iu'thc ground, and also those portions at the foot of thedescents,

lare intended to be interiorly enlarged and to receive fixedfriction-wheels, in order that the cable may ride upon or press upon thesaid rollers so as to diminish friction. Indeed, if desirable, fixedfrictionrollers may be introduced Aat suitable intervals through all ther iils, as shown at T, Fig. 5.

1n order to assist further in the starting of the car, I propose to useone of the patented springdevices by which the momentum of the car, lostby stoppage, is converted into a starting-power or made 'to assist instarting. Thisl will assist in relievingv the cable from undue strainingwhen the car starts.

` Having thus described myinvention, I claim as newand desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. Having the rail or track upon which the car-wheelsrun so grooved, made, or arranged,A -whether in one or more parts, thatthe said -rail or track shall form a receptacle or protection for thepropelling-cable, substantially as herein shown and described.

,2. The combination, withone or both of the rails of a railroad track,of a propelling-cable, inthe manner substantially a's.' herein shown"and described.

3. The employment between the boitim of necting device H, or itsequivalent mechanism, operating substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

4. The combination of the cable-connecting devices, or their equivalentmechanisms, with the axles or .truck parts of the car, so that the saidcable-connecting devices will not be att'ected by the movement of thecar-body upon its springs, substantially as herein shown anddescribed..A

5. The combination ofthe cable-connecting device withthebrake ofthe car,sot-hat on the movement of the brake the cable-connecting device will beoperated, and viceversa, substantially as herein shown. anddescribed. p6. The combination ot' the cable-connecting device with the ordinarybrake lever or -shaft I, whichy operates the brake, so that the said'shaftgwill serve the double function of oper-i atingthe brakesv andalso the cable-connecting device, substantially as set forth.

7.v The employment, for the propulsion tf Streetcars, of a cablecomposed of jointed body of the bars, substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

A'EELY' BEACH.

Witnesses s LIVINGSTON HENRY MORRISON.

the car and the propelling cable, of the conbars, having heads of largersize than the 8. The arrangement or construction ofthe

